Culture – Page 26

Sommelier, M.D.

Posted September 11, 2009 by Walter 5 Comments

An Inner Italian Moment

Poggio il Castellare Brunello di Montalcino 2003 may be just what the doctor orders.

By Walter Sanders

Recently, I had a routine medical procedure that necessitated anesthesia.

The anesthesiologist had gone through the drill thousands of times. He used well-practiced patter to recite a comical sedation flavor menu…to put me at ease, I’m sure.

“Today we have orange, vanilla, peach, watermelon, bubblegum, strawberry, and lemon. Which do you prefer?”

I paused.

“What I’d really prefer is Brunello di Montalcino. Is that available?”

That stopped him cold. Real cold.

Seconds passed. Yikes. Had I broken his rhythm? Had I crossed the sacred line between anesthesiologist and patient? Was I stealing his attempt at humor?

Finally, with a touch of wonderment in his voice, he said “That’s my favorite red wine.”

“Yeah, one of mine, too,” I said.

“Where did you learn about it?” I asked.

“Three years ago in Tuscany my wife and I took a side trip from Florence to Montalcino and I had my first glass with dinner there. I love that wine.”

We talked a little more about Italian vino. I felt much more at ease being in the capable hands of a mellow Brunello fellow.

Then he put me under. The procedure was a success.

Unimpeachable

Posted September 9, 2009 by Sharon 2 Comments

Torta di pesche in a tender butter cookie crust.

I’m living in a kind of peach frenzy.

Peaches and ricotta for breakfast. Baked peaches blanketed with pastry cream. Peach sorbetto. Peach tart in a sweet cookie crust.

Pondering how long my supplies will last, I just spoke on the phone to the friendly clerk at Bechtold’s Orchard in Bucks County, PA. She said peaches will be available for about one more week. O-N-E week? Sadly, the days of peaches dwindle down to a precious few.

Like a squirrel frantically stashing nuts for the bleak days to come, I’m stockpiling peaches in my freezer. It’s easy enough to do. Submerge the ripe but firm peaches in a pot of boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds. Transfer them with a slotted spoon to a big bowl of ice water.

A Bechtold's Orchard peach emerging from a refresing ice water bath.

Start peeling with a sharp paring knife at the stem end and the skin slips off as easily as a satin robe gliding off the shoulder of a 1930s glamour queen. Halve or quarter the peaches and lay them on a tray lined with plastic wrap. Place in the freezer for a day and then pack the frozen peaches into a resealable plastic freezer bag or plastic freezer container.

Peeled peaches ready to be flash frozen.

And, while you still have the chance, you can bake a homey Italian peach tart with the following recipe. It’s sweetened with fruit preserves to intensify the flavor of the fresh fruit filling. Sometimes I replace half the preserves with ginger-peach chutney from Tait Farm Foods in Centre Hall, PA. It makes a sweet, slightly hot filling that’s bliss.

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Jim Russell Records

Posted September 3, 2009 by Walter 10 Comments

Denise Russell manages the world-famous Jim Russell Records in New Orleans.

From the shady side of the Magazine Street, Jim Russell Records shop didn’t look like the Top 10 of anything — let alone one of the Top 10 record stores on earth as my daughter Tess had advertised. It was a simple store front with a weather-beaten sign that was probably the original from 1969.

The front door was open. It was warm inside the store. Denise Russell, daughter-in-law of Jim Russell, was behind the counter. She greeted us and we said hi.

The store extends deep to the back walls. Bins of CDs, deeper bins of vinyl LPs and slats of single 45s, 78s, tapes, movies, and all sorts of music-related memorabilia covered the walls. Tess began to explore.

I told Denise that we were visiting New Orleans and Tess had read that Jim Russell Records was famous. Denise nodded and said, “It is kind of famous.” Maybe even more famous to people living outside of the city.

She went on to tell stories about renowned performers who have visited the store. Most were friendly and real like Bruce Springsteen who appreciated the store and Jim Russell himself.

Denise went on to say that she gets lots of international visitors, and that Jim Russell’s has been written up in many foreign tourist guides as a must see in New Orleans.

As if on cue, in walked the Italians. They were a 30-ish couple, casual but stylish, great sun glasses and both sporting nifty miniature backpacks. They began looking around. In a few minutes the woman came up to put some purchases on the counter while her companion continued to shop.
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Cal-Ital

Posted September 3, 2009 by Sharon Leave a Comment

width="140" Dante would be proud.

The great Florentine poet who authored The Divine Comedy–and is widely credited with fathering the modern standard Italian language–has many bilingual offspring in Northern California.

As Patricia Yollin reports in this San Francisco Chronicle article, the Bay Area is nurturing many little Inner Italians who are learning to speak la lingua piu bella del mondo.

The Inner Italian Q & A: Piero Antuono

Posted June 30, 2009 by Sharon 3 Comments

One in an occasional series of interviews–with wannabe Italians or expatriate Italians–who try to “live Italian” wherever they are.

antuono

I was born and grew up in the shadow of the Duomo in Florence until, at the age of 30, I was imported to Wisconsin as a souvenir by my American wife, who was living in Florence. I remember seeing her one day crossing Piazza Santa Croce and thinking she was the cutest girl ever–and I still do. So here I am in Milwaukee. Next year will mark my 30th in the U.S. which means I’ve had three decades of training and working on the “bella vita.”

La vita é bella? Yes of course la vita é sempre bella, but one needs to work at it and make sure that every day there are reasons to feel that the “…vita é veramante bella…” I think one needs to know how to pause (. . . in your head at least if you cannot otherwise) and appreciate the small things that bring Italy closer. Things which remind me I am not that far anyway, things which allow me to detach, disengage, slow down. It can be a caffé at the right time, a quick call to a friend, reading the news or listening to radio from Italy. Working at a university, travel is something which happens and I make sure it happens enough so I can visit Italy and reset my system. The most important things are not things at all, but rather a state of mind.

Q: Living “Italian”. . . Is it a good lifestyle or the best lifestyle?

A: I do not think it is a good life style (living “Italian” in Italy is stressful.) I do not think it is the best one (I am sure there are healthier ones.) I think it is the only one.

Q: Why?

A: Because to vivere “Italian” implies (as for other Mediterranean societies) many social interactions during the day. These casual extemporaneous connections–some good, some bad–are the condiments that add some spice to life. Even superficial chats with strangers at the bus stop, at the newsstand, or at the market are opportunities to give an “emotional valence” to what would be otherwise routine. Sharing personal stories and family problems with friends, colleagues, and neighbors is a way of lessening the burden. After all, the word privacy in Italian does not exist.

Q: What does “living Italian” in the U.S. mean to you?

A: Being able to switch. Switching from living the U.S. life in the U.S. to the Italian life in the U.S. and to the Italian life in Italy. Accepting that change is inevitable after so many years in the U.S. Switching can last seconds or days. The secret is to switch without becoming schizophrenic. Feeling out of place or misplaced sometimes is okay.

Q: What nurtures your Inner Italian?

A: Being able to talk on subjects with Italian friends without being considered critical, offensive, politically incorrect, crude, rude, or insensitive because of the different cultural values.

Q: What Italian movie, or movie set in Italy, do you most like? Why?

A: Tea with Mussolini. Possibly not a great film, but my mother had a small part in it at 82 years of age. The plot was reminiscent of her life in many ways.

Q: If you could live in one place in Italy for the rest of your life, where would it be and why?

A: Anywhere where olive trees grow.

Q: Last Italian meal. . .what would it be?

A: The company would be the most important ingredient of the meal. The setting would be the second. The food would be the third. And if I could do the cooking with my friends, I would be in heaven already.

* * *

How do you nurture your Inner Italian? Share your comments.

Linguine al Limone

Posted June 24, 2009 by Sharon 9 Comments

Linguine al limone is a silken melange that complements grilled summer seafood.

She had me at “limone.” That’s because lemon is perhaps the best flavor on the planet.

When Sara posted a comment longing for a recipe for chitarra al limone she ate in Sulmona, she set me on a delectable sleuthing mission.

Sara wrote:

Sulmona’s where I had maybe the best pasta dish of my life…but I can’t remember the name of the restaurant. The dish was chitarra al limone, unlike any I’ve had before or since. I’ve tried several recipes, but nothing comes close. When I asked the owner for her secret, she said “limone!” I said, I know…and what else? She smiled and said, “solo limone, signora.”

She’s going to her grave with the secret. I thought it might be that they used that panna that comes in little tiny cartons and doesn’t need refrigeration, but I tried it and that wasn’t it. The secret’s still in Sulmona…

When I asked Sara for more description, she offered this:

It was very very light and I don’t remember that it was creamy, buttery or eggy. It was as if essence of lemon and very little else coated each strand… I’ve tried just olive oil and lemon with a touch of cream but that just wasn’t the same.

Armed with these clues, I speculated that the dish had to contain cheese, probably Parmigiano-Reggiano, to counter the tartness of the lemon and help create the luxurious mouth feel that she described. I’m thinking that Sara’s signora wasn’t being coy when she said “solo limone.” To her, cheese is probably just a “given” not worth mentioning.

I consulted the usual reference suspects: Ada Boni’s Italian Regional Cooking, Le Ricette Regionali Italiane (Solares), Artusi’s The Art of Eating Well, The Ultimate Italian Cookbook by Carla Capalbo and Marcella’s Italian Kitchen. None offers a recipe for chitarra al limone. Giuliano Bugialli’s Bugialli on Pasta has a Spaghetti al Limone recipe “from all over Italy” containing quite a bit of butter and cream, more of a lemon- flavored cream sauce than the intense lemon sauce desired by Sara. Michele Scicolone has a Linguine with Lemon recipe in 1,000 Italian Recipes but it’s made with butter. For an Abruzzese dish, I felt that olive oil would be more traditional.

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